Restaurateur reviving Lineberger's fish camp

Published: Friday, May 24, 2013 at 01:26 PM.

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“And she was very instrumental with helping me get started and helping me continue,” Greene said. “I kind of got enamored with the concept.”

At the time, other steakhouses offered cheap meals, but the food quality wasn’t the best. Western Sizzlin came in the market with quality steaks for the same price as the competitor.

Starting out

“When I first came to Gastonia, back to Gastonia to open a restaurant, I was rejected by just about everyone,” Greene said. “The person that stepped up was Richard Penegar. He’s the one that had faith in me, and he’s the one that built my first building and leased it to me, and he’s always been my hero.”

Greene knew why no one wanted to take a chance.

“I had no money,” he said.

Penegar’s gamble on a young, enthusiastic restaurateur paid off. Greene’s first Gaston County restaurant was on Garrison Boulevard, where Hillbilly’s BBQ and Steaks stands. Greene went on to open up 16 other Western Sizzlin restaurants in places like Spartanburg, Gaffney, Shelby, Danville, Va., and Muncie, Ind. He served on the Western Sizzlin’s national board for 15 years.

Titus Greene didn’t start out in the restaurant business, but it’s a fish camp that he hopes will be the legacy he leaves for his daughter and son-in-law.

Greene grew up in Cramerton. He graduated from Cramerton High and went to college at Appalachian State University, majoring in physical education and social science.

He started out his career as a teacher at Ray Junior High, which is now York Chester Middle School. For six years, he taught and coached all sports.

Greene went to graduate school for a degree in counseling at the University of Georgia in Athens. He worked first as a counselor at Jonesboro Senior High, then for the Georgia Department of Education, where he met his wife Gail. He then went on to work for the California Testing Bureau.

It was in Athens, Ga., where Greene decided to get into the restaurant business.

“I think I got to the point where I wanted to be my own boss,” Greene said.

He opened his first Western Sizzlin in Athens as a graduate student with his wife by his side. It was Dec. 5, 1973.

“And she was very instrumental with helping me get started and helping me continue,” Greene said. “I kind of got enamored with the concept.”

At the time, other steakhouses offered cheap meals, but the food quality wasn’t the best. Western Sizzlin came in the market with quality steaks for the same price as the competitor.

Starting out

“When I first came to Gastonia, back to Gastonia to open a restaurant, I was rejected by just about everyone,” Greene said. “The person that stepped up was Richard Penegar. He’s the one that had faith in me, and he’s the one that built my first building and leased it to me, and he’s always been my hero.”

Greene knew why no one wanted to take a chance.

“I had no money,” he said.

Penegar’s gamble on a young, enthusiastic restaurateur paid off. Greene’s first Gaston County restaurant was on Garrison Boulevard, where Hillbilly’s BBQ and Steaks stands. Greene went on to open up 16 other Western Sizzlin restaurants in places like Spartanburg, Gaffney, Shelby, Danville, Va., and Muncie, Ind. He served on the Western Sizzlin’s national board for 15 years.

Greene started up a seafood restaurant in Gaston County in 1980. He’s since sold the Captain’s Cap, and all his Western Sizzlins.

“Some of them survived in spite of me,” Greene joked.

While Greene dedicated his hours to making his restaurants run smoothly, he found time to give back to the community. Greene has served on the YMCA board, Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club board and Habitat for Humanity board for more than 30 years. He also served on the Gaston County Board of Education in the 1980s and 1990s.

Newest project

Greene’s new project has been reviving an old Gaston County favorite – Lineberger’s Fish Camp.

“I was approached by some of the Linebergers about restoring the Lineberger fish camp concept,” Greene said. “They started in 1948. I knew them, and I used to go there and eat. They were the granddaddy of all the fish camps.”

Lineberger's Fish Camp closed in 1998. Lineberger’s Fish Camp reopened 39 years to the day that Greene opened his first restaurant, Dec. 5, 2012.

The goal has been to keep the Lineberger feeling alive. Greene pays homage to Luther and Stella Lineberger with stained glass panels bearing their names. The restaurant at 1101 Union Road in Gastonia emulates the same recipes from the original restaurant, and added on items like steak and a salad bar.

“People tell us they come out to eat because Lineberger’s is back, and after they eat, they agree it’s the same quality that they enjoyed all those years,” Greene said. “I realize the success of Lineberger’s Fish Camp is mostly determined by my employees, my staff. And I realize that when people come in to dine, they don’t come in to dine with Titus Greene.”

Greene brought back another notable feature at Lineberger’s – the candy shop. Greene named it Gail’s Candy Shop after his wife. The restaurant gives all the proceeds from the candy shop to the Alzheimer’s Association.

Greene’s wife developed Alzheimer’s when she was 57 in 2005. She’s now 65. There is no cure.

“You just try to sustain where she’s at,” Greene said. “But she was with me through all the hard times…A lot of times people say ‘My wife’s been right behind me.’ My wife’s been right beside me.”

Secret to success

Restaurant owners must have perseverance to prosper.

“When I opened up my first restaurant, I completely dedicated myself to it, and I was there 100 plus hours every week, every week. I practically lived there,” Greene said. “I was determined I was going to make it go and make it be successful.”

It’s a challenge to run a restaurant. People have to put in the time and energy.

“Especially I when I opened my first restaurant, I did everything wrong in the book, but I kept working on it,” Greene aid. “And through trial and error I finally got it right.”

When owning a restaurant, a person has to understand first and foremost that you’re working for the customer.

“I’ve said this to hundreds of employees: First, what customers are looking for when they come out to eat is a pleasant dining experience. If you can come out and say that was good, and continue to come back, then we’ve done our job,” Greene said.

That doesn’t mean the focus is all about food.

“It’s good food, good ambience, and that would include the service,” Greene said. “I can have bad food, but if the waitress is really good and really apologizes and takes care of it, then it’s OK. The waitress can do a lot of things to soothe a customer from being irate. The service is very important.”

Greene’s also planning to open another restaurant on U.S. 321 North near Rankin Lake Road, at the site of the former Western Sizzlin. He wants it to be a high-end barbecue house and hopes it’ll open this year.

Greene spends a majority of his days at Lineberger’s but that will change. He brought in his daughter Pam and son-in-law Larry Walker to operate the fish camp. He has three other children, but they saw how hard their father worked and knew that being a restaurateur wasn’t the life for them. Greene will phase out his responsibilities as Pam and Larry get more comfortable and proficient at running Lineberger’s without him.

“Before too long I expect it to be theirs. It’s my little legacy I’m leaving for them,” Greene said. “That should be my swan song.”

You can reach Amanda Memrick at 704-869-1839 and twitter.com/AmandaMemrick.